


The Deputy

by crmsndragonwngs, WoundedHeartWithin (crmsndragonwngs)



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 22:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crmsndragonwngs/pseuds/crmsndragonwngs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/crmsndragonwngs/pseuds/WoundedHeartWithin
Summary: A collection of character studies focusing on the law enforcement officials of Hope County, Montana.





	1. Staci Pratt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The badge is an honor. A privilege. A symbol of duty, of service, and of sacrifice. He wears it on his chest, over his heart, the light glancing off the silver sheriff’s star regardless of his angle, damning him no matter where he turns.

The badge is an honor. A privilege. A symbol of duty, of service, and of sacrifice. He wears it on his chest, over his heart, the light glancing off the silver sheriff’s star regardless of his angle, damning him no matter where he turns. 

He remembers putting it on for the first time, the way it had seemed to force his shoulders back and square, like a stern hand pressing against his chest and guiding him toward something he’s not and could never be. 

It jabs one blunt finger into his flesh and tells him he’ll never live up to the Sheriff’s expectations because he’s a fucking fraud, only wearing the badge and uniform for the badge-bunnies and free pussy. Chicks dig a uniform, how's that for protect and fucking serve?

There are days when Staci Pratt just wants to kick down the Sheriff’s door and scream, “why the fuck am I here? I’m not fucking qualified for this shit! I didn’t even finish college!”

Had a full ride to fucking Vanderbilt for baseball and went for two whole semesters before dropping out. Couldn’t cut it. Too much pressure, too much work, just too much. He moved back home with his mom, who’d just shook her head and told him he was always too smart for his own damn good, and became a fucking cop as if that wouldn’t be everything that college had been and more. 

Too much. 

Too much to ask for a quiet county to stay quiet. Too much to hope he’d never have to draw his weapon on another human being. Too much to think that he’d never have to do his fucking job. 

Should have stayed in college. Should have just picked liberal arts for his major and played baseball until he went pro. Could have done it, too. He’d had a few scouters sniffing around the games, asking the coaches who the hayseed was who swung a bat like a hall of famer and ran like a racehorse. But oh no, he’d had this stupid idea that pre-law would be fucking fun. A nice fallback in case he didn’t make it, that way he could take care of his mother and bang all the court groupies he wanted. 

It wasn’t even like he wasn’t smart enough to do it. He’d never had much motivation to start with, had always thought that if something was hard he could just drop it and move on; skate through on the bare minimum and a winning smile. But skating through had only earned him academic probation and a season-long suspension from the team. No team, no tuition, so he’d just said “fuck it” and went home. 

He should have went to the community college in Missoula, but he never did quite get around to it. The Sheriff’s Office had been hiring, so Staci had once again said “fuck it” and submitted an application. The day he signed his contract and received his badge, gun, and uniform was the same day an actual fucking cult rolled into the county like they owned it and set up shop. 

Signed his fucking death warrant, but hell, maybe he deserved it. What he gets for doing something stupid like becoming a deputy sheriff just to get lucky and avoid school. 

What a joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick character study/practice fic that I liked. This is one of many versions of Staci that I have in my head at any given time lol
> 
> Vanderbilt University is a private school in Nashville, Tennessee, and is touted as the best college in the US for baseball.
> 
> This assumes that Staci has been with the sheriff's office since the cult has been in Hope County. I headcanon that as about five to six years or so, but idk how accurate that really is.


	2. Joey Hudson

When Danny died— _no_ , when Danny was _murdered_ , Joey Hudson crawled into a shell and died right along with him. They had been so close; not quite lovers, but Joey had been _hoping_. And just like that, with the crack of a gun and squealing tires and a spilled milkshake, all of Joey’s hopes had flown right out the window, into the night and over the mountains and far, far away. 

She’d scrambled out of the car and pulled him into her lap— bleeding and choking on blood and reaching for nothing with one red hand and two glassy eyes oh _god_ — and had fallen apart completely. She had a job to do. She knew it as she watched those eyes fix. That hand drop. But she was paralyzed. Frozen. 

She didn’t want to be a cop anymore. 

When she was little, she’d been the tattle tale. She’d police her older brothers, telling mama every time they’d say a bad word or sneak in after a night of drinking. Her brothers had always said she’d make a good cop. 

In school, it was much the same. Hall monitor, teacher’s assistant, any taste of authority she could get, she wanted. Always had a good moral compass and an unwavering sense of duty. 

She’d been hoping to land a detective gig. There were only two detectives at the Hope County Sheriff’s Office; one was older than fucking dirt, and the other was Danny. 

Danny, who had smiled so warmly at Joey on her first day. Danny, who had taken Joey under his wing and shown her how to be a deputy sheriff. Danny, whose hand would linger any time he touched her, whose brown eyes would soften and sparkle when he smiled, whose heart was kind and gentle right up until it had pumped all his blood out of the goddamn gunshot wound in his chest. Right up until it had stuttered to a halt with shock and let him die. 

She was going to quit. She’d turned in her two weeks notice, and had begun the process of packing up her desk. She’d been hoping Sheriff Whitehorse would pity her and assign her light duty for her last days on the job. 

Instead, he’d dragged her onto that goddamn helicopter with him and Pratt and some Fed and the rookie that had been Danny’s replacement. She should have gotten indignant. She should have fought him on it, told him that if he didn’t give her desk work she’d walk the fuck out. She shouldn’t have ordered that fucking milkshake; maybe if her hands had been free she could have saved him. Maybe then she wouldn’t have ended up right in the middle of Joseph Seed’s compound, or in the depths of John Seed’s bunker, or at the edge of nuclear fucking war. 

She should have just walked away when she’d had the chance. But Whitehorse had promised to make her a detective. He’d told her to do it for Danny, that he wouldn’t have wanted her to quit because of him. Told her that it was her duty to protect and serve. 

And she’d been foolish enough to believe him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm still working on Army. It's taking a lot of research and I've been working a lot, but I'm still writing it lol. I've been writing these to stretch a bit when I'm not writing Army.
> 
> Again, this is just a quick character study. Unlike the one I wrote for Staci, this is my singular headcanon for Joey. Danny is the deputy that Joey will tell you about if you talk to her enough in Falls End. I headcanon him as a detective, obviously lol
> 
> As an aside, in lots of agencies, detective is just a designation. Like a specialty. They often wear the same uniform as a regular officer (though some do wear plain clothes), and are ranked the exact same way. They often don't outrank officers of higher rank that aren't detectives. And some departments put their detectives on patrol beats and pair them with regular officers as backup. It all depends on the department.


End file.
